Michael Badgley out for the 2024 season; Lions exploring competition for Jake Bates
Allen Park – The landscape of the Detroit Lions' kicking competition shifted drastically Friday morning when coach Dan Campbell announced veteran Michael Badgley suffered a significant injury a day earlier and will miss the 2024 season.
“Feel awful for Badge, man,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said to open his Friday morning news conference. “He worked his tail off to get ready for this season. He was having a good spring and was ready for camp. It’s tough.”
Badgley suffered the injury during Thursday's practice and will require surgery. That leaves the recently signed Jake Bates as the only kicker on Detroit’s roster. The team has already held tryouts in search of competition for the former Michigan Panthers standout.
“It’s something that (GM) Brad (Holmes) and I are talking about right now, but we’re not in a hurry either,” Campbell said. “We find the right guy that helps us for competition, then for camp, then we’ll do that.”
Bates, who served as a kickoff specialist in college, made 17 of 22 field goals for the Panthers last season, including multiple makes from 60 yards and beyond and a long of 64. That’s undoubtedly impressive, but there’s understandable concern about the sample size.
“We’ve got to put him in as many pressure situations as we can in camp,” Campbell said. “…The only way you’re going to know is you’ve got to put him out there and you’ve got to see how he does. That’ll come.
“Look, right now, he looks pretty good,” Campbell said. “It’s early, but he has big leg and I like his personality, his aura. I mean, he’s got some confidence about him, which is nice. He seems pretty consistent about the way he goes about his business, kind of the same guy every day, which I appreciate. So, we’ll just see. We’ll keep working him through practice and see where this goes.”
Badgley has spent parts of the past two seasons with the Lions after joining the team in the middle of the 2022 campaign. He's made 85.7% of his field goals and 46-of-48 extra points in 16 appearances. He also converted 8-of-9 field goals in the playoffs last season, with a 54-yarder in the Wild Card win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Riley Patterson loading….
The most important position that doesn't matter except when it does. It's a different problem when you're more comfortable outside of 45+ than when you can't rely on someone beyond 45. I'd look to sign Jason Hanson as a coach and set aside a roster/practice squad spot or 2 specifically to develop a young kicker with overall skills who can be ready within a year. I think it's the one spot teams don't spend enough time for development because you're going with one guy regardless. You're not keeping 2 kickers and the only competition is during the offseason. A practice squad spot for a development would keep that competition going all season.